Ben Drury

Battle High School wins the tip-off in Hickman’s boys basketball senior night against the Spartans.

On Friday, February 16th the Hickman boys basketball team held their Senior Night. This year, however, was one for the ages as Hickman beat one of their cross-town rivals in a high-scoring battle (no pun intended) against Battle High School, beating them 72-59.

Prior to this game, Hickman came in with a record of 17-6, compared to Battle’s 18-5. This game was slated as a game to watch for as both sides had so many great and entertaining players to watch, such as Tate Mccubbin (Battle,12) and Brock Camp (Hickman,11). These players, and others, on both teams attracted lots of attention from all over Columbia, and even talent from the NBA such as former University of Missouri basketball star Kobe Brown who now plays in Los Angeles with the Clippers. 

Through the very early stages of the game, it was made apparent that it would be high-scoring. Langston Stroupe, a Hickman senior guard who finished the game with 19 points, opened the game up early by knocking down a mid-range jump shot to score first, and then the scoring wouldn’t stop. 

It wasn’t until 4:05 was left in the first quarter that a timeout would be called, Hickman went into the timeout leading 12-10. A defining moment of the quarter, and a momentum shift in the game, was when Brock Camp of Hickman, scored a tough and-one bucket to go up by 7 with 1:36 left in the first quarter. Following that, the quarter would wrap with the Kewpies leading 19-15. 

The second quarter would be no different for Hickman because they came out swinging by going on a run to go up by 10, 28-18 with 5:28 left in the quarter. Both teams would go on to score 10 more points each and would finish the quarter, and the half, 38-28, Hickman leading. 

Hickman did a great job defending Battle’s key player, Tate Mccubbin, who was limited to just 6 points. However, another player from Battle stepped up and held 12 of their 28 points, this player was junior guard, Vernell Holt. 

The second half started and took a different turn than the first half, with Hickman’s Josiah Griffith knocking down two free throws with 7:17 left, much unlike how the first half started. This quarter was so low-scoring that there were only nine points scored total in the first 4 minutes. The low-scoring quarter would eventually come to an end with Hickman hitting a buzzer-beating bucket by Brock Camp and finishing the quarter with a 51-42 lead. 

In the fourth quarter, Hickman picked up where they left off in the first half and went up by 12 with 5:13 left. The game would not cease in scoring, but unfortunately for the Spartans, they would lose by 13, dropping down to an 18-6 record, and Hickman would gain the same record. 

Some top scorers for both teams were Brock Camp from Hickman with 18 points, and Hickman’s starting point guard Isaiah Bonaparte (12) also had double digits, scoring 12. For Battle, they were led by Vernell Holt (11) who finished with 19, and the Kewpies were able to hold Tate Mccubbin (12) to just 9 points.